His bounty
by IlyCorps2
Summary: At twelve years old, Ben starts to think about who he is. The blue lightsaber makes him a Jedi: but he has many fears—most of all, a tall robot-like assassin. He feels confused and he seeks confirmation from his family, without receiving an answer, while the voice in his head always seems to know what it wants.
1. Chapter 1

He looked back at him again.  
The kid was keeping his head down, his hands resting on his knees. He hadn't uttered a damn word since they'd been on the planet.  
Chewie shook his head and pointed at him, with a worried tone in his voice.  
"Alright" Han agreed, and proceeded to kneel down in front of him to discuss whatever was going on.  
"Listen, Ben. I don't want you here, either, but, for now, that's how it's gonna be. I can't leave this place, son.. as much as I would like to."  
"You need to give that money back, don't you?" Ben scoffed, in his angry tone.  
"That, or they kidnap me, and we definitely needn't that to happen. Do not escape Chewie's watch and don't even try to approach anybody. Your mother is already upset as it is"  
"Because we should be headed back to Chandrila, but you must pay off your filthy debts first. You're a damn lousy father"  
"Can't argue with you on that right now... But listen, I promise you it will be better. Now I gotta go and talk to those Ziguyens" Han said as he referred to them with a quick hand gesture.  
"They're heavily equipped. They could rob you" Ben replied. Han put his hand on his shoulder with a smug face.  
"Then my tongue will shoot faster than a Starfighter"  
Then he got to his feet, leaving Ben under Chewie's supervision to go for his mission. As soon as he walked up to the hooded aliens, he received many ugly death stares. Nevertheless, he looked untamed by the negative attention, and stated:  
"I bow before you, your Highnesses. I sincerely apologize for the delay and solemnly swear it won't happen again"  
The Ziguyens gathered around him and hissed. Chewie let a low growl as he put a paw on Ben's head apprehensively.  
"I am therefore willing, as well as giving back your credits, to give you something deserving of your worth: this dear manufact from Chandrila."  
The Ziguyens hissed louder: they seemed ecstatic.  
Ben slightly relaxed his tightened jaw, but kept frowning and was ready to tell his father off again. He'd been unbelievably lucky.  
" _Akua tot pot-to_ " the tallest Ziguyen said, even bowing back to Han. " _Ashila mash wa-wa_ "  
Han sank into in an even lower, splendid bow, and lost his focus only when he realized he still had to give the rest of the money back. So, he rummaged quickly in his pockets and drew out the whole sum.  
More hisses, more compliments. Ben was getting really annoyed. His mother hated him so much when he did that. He hated him when he did that.  
" _Greetings, Han Solo_ " finally the leader said, and the smuggler was able to return to his family.  
"See, Chewie? They know Standard: the gentlemen are just too high up to speak it!"  
The Wookie shrugged, with a relieved roar.  
"Can we go home yet?" Ben complained, with his arms folded.  
"Of course, son, of course. Let's go back to the ship and leave this piece of junk for all eternity"  
As his son got up the chair, Han took his hand and rushed out of the Cantina, with Chewbacca trailing behind them.  
Little did he know, someone had been looking intentively at them all along...

-

"Here it is!"

When Han rejoiced in seeing the Millennium Falcon, it was always like the first time. Ben had learnt to do the same, as it meant they were safe. He laughed and welcomed his father's tender hug.  
"Get in, boy" he ordered, but as he started running, another voice was heard.  
" **Han Solo** "  
Ben felt through the Force it was bad news.  
He stopped, he turned around, and saw him.  
When he was very little, his dad'd told him about the deadliest bounty hunter in the galaxy: a tall robot-like man with a red and green mask, rockets under his forearms, a jetpack on his back, holding a gun and carrying two more.  
Boba Fett was his name.  
He'd been so terrified of that description he had never-ending nightmares for a week.  
He was supposed to have died a dumb death in the mouth of a Sarlacc, but there he was. Identical.  
They were in the desert. There was nowhere to hide.  
Ben was visibly shaking. Horror blocked the tears in his eyes.  
His father charged the blaster, and Chewbacca readied the crossbow.  
"GET IN!"  
But he didn't move. He couldn't, and wouldn't, leave without them. As soon as he could sense the men pull the trigger, he fell to the ground and inhaled the sand, his heart thumping desperately.  
Chewbacca shot and his projectile jumped off the man's armory, and he got hit twice in the groin. Han missed, and suddenly he felt his leg and shoulder on fire. He couldn't use his blaster anymore, but the tin bastard shot his right arm to make sure. He groaned and stooped down.  
"We're dead" he thought, and Ben whispered it again in his breath.  
"We're dead" 


	2. Chapter 2

Boba Fett took a few steps forward to approach them. The slow, heavy pace made the grit leap, his footsteps left holes in the sand as the sun made his whole figure shine, in the distance.  
That gun was steady in his hands, his determination was flawless.  
Suddenly, all of Ben's thoughts vanished and he could feel Snoke's fingers tentacling in his brain.  
His contact with the Force grew immensely for a second and he felt stronger.  
He could face him. He had to face him.  
Getting to his feet, he caught his attention.  
"BEN, DON'T DO IT!"  
Though he ignored his father, he was already beginning to regret his decision. He ignited his lightsaber, with drops of sweat slipping down his cheeks. His teeth clenched so tight it hurt, and he caught his tears with his lips.  
Boba Fett probably thought it a desperate attempt and did not move.  
He was right.  
Han screamed again, and Snoke screamed after him, so loud his ears became bunged up.  
With a gulp, he regained his grip on the lightsaber and dashed onto him. Pivoting on his foot, he lashed out against him left and right, but the robot dodged all his hits. Continuing, he was finally able to chip his armor, but he got distracted: suddenly, he was struck by a sucker punch which sent him flying in the sandstorm and hit the ground with his chin.  
He spat blood, trying to get up.  
"He did nothing to you!" Han snarled.  
As soon as he turned on him, Ben jumped up holding the saber, aiming to pass him through, but was punched again on his nose and fell abruptly.  
He moaned, calling for his weapon which was now several feet away, and scarcely managed to get up again.  
Snoke was insulting him so vehemently he could feel the brain twitch in his skull: but he did not know if he could do it. He wasn't trained enough, he wasn't good enough.  
" _FAIL AND DIE!"_ the voice in his head rumbled, and he whimpered. This time, Boba Fett got to him and hit in the mid of his abdomen, having him fall of his knees. He felt him toy with his lightsaber, then throw it and shoot it to pieces.  
Then, Boba Fett turned to his father again and pointed the gun at his head.  
Han was confused. He didn't have to watch his son die, but he would have never known what happened to him.  
By the way, Chewbacca just couldn't get up. He had been trying all along but it hurt too much. Ben was helpless.  
Han closed his eyes and waited.

He still felt alive.  
It was at least half a minute past.  
He re-opened his eyes, and saw the sparkling red shot, frozen mid-air.  
He didn't dare to look back, but heard Chewbacca growl his son's name.  
Ben's hand trembled at the end of his extended arm as he stood, mouth agape, watching what he had done.  
He felt the ground shaking under his feet, and his knees were bending.  
"... _draw... on... fear"_ Snoke kept rattling in his mind. Sucking up the tears, he let the tongue slide up where the missing teeth where and spat the blood in a pop.  
He could feel a temporary twinge of tension in the robot's mind: then, Boba Fett shot again at Han multiple times, but all shots were deviated.  
Ben had joined his fingers together and had made a semi-circular movement with his hand.  
If he'd shot again, he could have tried and sent fire back at him: but the robot dropped his blaster and started his jetpack.  
Ben started running backwards, predicting his route, and then saw him throw his rockets. They seemed too heavy to control, and he dropped to the ground. One fell just beside him, and he rolled furiously to miss the other one. Getting up, blinded and blinking, he wanted to get his blaster, but the weapon was too far away and he couldn't reach it. As the robot was sliding in the air, he had to crouch so that he couldn't grab him, and he saw him stump with a loud thud on the harsh sand.  
Ben was quickly reached by the ugly thought he couldn't control the powers he had spawned. He was now weak, battered and the rockets had badly burnt his leg.  
" _FEAR!_ " Snoke cried again, and his head ached: he couldn't withstand more torture.  
He had to focus on how much he had always feared and hated that giant, mechanic monster... cried on mom's lap because of all the bad dreams... he'd never feared anything more.  
So he distanced his feet, furrowed his brows, clenched the remaining teeth harder and threw both his arms up and forward to freeze him: he aimed for his whole, entire body.  
It was an instant: as he was slowly approaching him, he stopped and started shivering, attempting to leave but incapable of moving out of place.  
He felt a waterfall of power wash over him. He was completely overwhelmed: he knew that to be the Dark Side. The more he wanted to hurt, the more he hurt. The more he was angry, the harder he hit his enemies: and Boba Fett was number one. It felt intoxicating.  
Though they were empty, it felt like his hands were able to crush him underneath all his Mandalorian armor. So, he made him fall to the ground with a snap and slowly curled his fingers to choke him.  
Suddenly, he was dead.

As life left him, Ben dropped his hand immediately, astonished. He let the Light flow back into him and felt in utter and complete shock. He'd never seen uncle Luke do any of the things he just did and never, never imagined that he himself would have been able to do them.  
But... they didn't look proud of him.  
His dad's eyes were clouded. He looked very worried.  
And like that, his pride turned to shame.  
"We're safe now, aren't we?" he remarked, still looking for confimation.  
Nobody spoke a word.  
"Please don't tell them. Mom and Luke, don't tell them. They mustn't know this. Please"  
And tears started streaming down, as if he had been his twelve-year-old son again. The one who looked like him, and talked like him, and wasn't...  
"We'll see about that" Han said, almost in a whisper "Somebody must get us now"  
The beautiful kid with the black head of hair, the face full of freckles, his own wide nostrils, the slender figure, his son was in front of him beaten, burnt, with tears in his eyes: and yet, for a few moments, he felt there was more space in his heart to dread him, than to love him.  
Of course, Ben felt those few moments. As he saw it, Han knew he'd be haunted that mixed look of loss and betrayal his whole life. 


	3. Chapter 3

"Yes, everything's alright" Luke repeated to Han in a mildly reassuring tone.  
The short-lived silence let them hear the yells and the falls of the Padawans training outside the hut. Ben's voice, somehow, came last.  
"He was beaten and upset for about two weeks, but he's recovered. I'm truly sorry he and you had to experience that. Anyhow, Leia needs to know something. You can't keep her in the dark"  
Luke's last words resonated louder: his gaze was intent and watchful, as he'd wanted to convey more than he'd uttered, but his tone was indulgent. Han gulped with his jaw tight, pressing his lips together. Then he laughed half-heartedly:  
"It was enough for her to avoid me as if I'd suddenly turned into a Ziguyen myself!"

The lightsabers thrust and collided in unison, and the same steps were repeated over and over again.  
His training partner, Dur'as, struck with the right timing as usual, but he was behind and scarcely caught the hit with a self-conscious moan.  
"I'm sorry" he apologised, abashed, with his head down.  
Ben'd always had an aversion toward lightsaber fight. He'd never been able to grasp how to execute those consequential stilted movements. He was always set to go a little further, twirl a little more, and so he ended up being late and failing. Worse now, he hadn't trained for weeks because of his injuries, and those consecutive failures day after day were getting hard to bear.  
"I cannot be slower" his partner stated, with his steady, unyielding tone.  
"I know, Dur'as" Ben replied, in a surge of annoyance "This lightsaber is heavier than the other one I had"  
Breathing, he took a step back, tightening his grip on the weapon. Then he closed his eyes and kept track of the steps for a while.  
It was... distant harmony. The transitions were intimately connected in smooth sequences. He approached that perfect symmetry, but the tumult he knew to be in his heart secluded it to him.  
Then, he reopened them. Dur'as gave him a interrogative look to know if he was ready; he nodded and they dashed and clashed again. His foot slid a little to keep the balance, but Ben wasn't relieved. It was better, but it wasn't good; and Dur'as was the best duelist among the Padawans. Not just at that: he bested everyone in all disciplines, because he was collected, just and upstanding: in short, exactly how his uncle would have wanted him to be.  
" _You're using restraint. You could bring him down any time you want. Boba Fett... he was destroyed by you..._ "  
The faint murmur in his ears overwhelmed him. He shivered, horrified at the mere reminiscence of that encounter, and the weapon almost slipped off his hands.  
" _Something's wrong, Han."_  
He shuddered violently again upon sensing his uncle's words. All the memories, the pains of the battle rushed back into his mind.  
 _"I beg you tell me exactly what happened, because there's something... I do not understand..."_  
 _"Luke, he was scared, I can tell you this... he would never do it again..."_  
 _"All this boy will ever accomplish in his life will always fade in comparison to that feat alone._ "  
Eventually, all those voices in his head mashed into a calming chaos, and he became defiant. His forhead rose, and he fixed Dur'as with a piercing gaze.  
"We should enact a lightsaber fight. A real one."  
"No, Ben, no. Why? We are not allowed, you know that"  
"What's stopping you?" he spurred him, tilting his head in a tentative tone "You expect an opponent to go for a routine exercise?"  
Feeling cornered, Dur'as agreed; with no more words, he ignited his lighstaber, somehow sounding exactly like Boba Fett starting his jetpack.  
At that thought, Ben's bond with the Force exploded and his perceptions were heightened: his father's dread and his uncle's concern were like vivid fires amidst everything, the other Padawans' steps like mere fingers tapping on a surface, and again there was the echo of the robot's blaster shots.  
His hand was drawing near to his belt, when he hurled it forward and Dur'as's lightsaber flew to his side. Surprised, Dur'as wavered and he exploited his distraction to readily lift him up and freeze him mid-air.  
"BEN! DON'T!"  
Luke's voice stunned Ben and he lost his control on Dur'as, who fell on the ground; everybody had already stopped to look at them in amazement.  
"That... that wasn't... " Duras was at a loss for words.  
"It was wrong" Luke completed his sentence, coming up at his nephew "We need to talk, Ben. You did not tell me the truth: now you will"  
He pointed the hut as he said it.  
There was no escape. 


End file.
